The latest leg lower comes after Jonathan Laing
in Barron's this weekend published a 3,000-word takedown of
the Chinese e-commerce site that questioned the integrity of its
financial statements, the company's growth trajectory, and argued
that Alibaba shares could fall 50% from current levels.

Alibaba, of course, disagreed, and on Sunday followed
with a lengthy response, going through Laing's argument on an
almost point-by-point basis, adding that the story, "lacks three
key ingredients — integrity, professionalism, and fair play."

In a note to clients on Monday, SunTrust analyst Bob Peck — who
has a "Buy" rating and $100 price target on shares of Alibaba —
said that while the Barron's report "raised several fair
issues...we think several other negative points were
overstated/misconstrued."

Of course, whether or not you think Barron's is right or wrong,
ahead of this report Alibaba shares have been absolutely
brutal in 2015, falling more than 35% year-to-date through
Friday.

This Friday will mark the 1-year anniversary of Alibaba's
public debut when shares priced at $68 and rose
38% in their first day of trading. After topping out near
$120 per share in November 2014, shares are now near $64.